A series of good news temporarily eased the sadness of parting. After saying goodbye to everyone, Jiang Qiao set off with Zhou Baorui. She was eager to return home and wondered how the old man and the others were doing over there.

Jiang Qiao refused Zhou Baorui's offer to stay, as her grandparents were still waiting for her to come home together.

"That's true. Okay, then I won't insist you stay. You've been away for more than half a year. If you don't go back soon, your parents will probably be very worried."

The couple bought Jiang Qiao a large bag of things and saw her off at the train station. Jiang Qiao didn't get off the train the whole way, as she was eager to get back.

I don't know if Song Shutian has found out about the train conductor yet. She sent the message, but I don't know how the operation went. There's been no other information.

The passengers on the bus talked mostly about the war, since they had won. Even those passengers who hadn't participated felt proud and happy.

Jiang Qiao listened attentively, and of course, she didn't miss any of the topics people were discussing.

She spent most of the year busy and had no time to pay attention to what was happening in the outside world. Now, she can learn about it by listening to others talk about it.

Compared to a few years ago, Jiang Qiao is now a real young woman, seventeen years old. If she lived in the countryside, she would definitely be of marriageable age.

Given her age and height, the people on the train really didn't treat her like a child.

However, Jiang Qiao had put on some makeup, so not many people were eager to chat with her; at most, it was just the few people sitting around her.

Jiang Qiao observed for a while but couldn't see anything wrong. However, she didn't say much, ate her own food, and rested on the table when she got tired.

Because I was in such a hurry to come back, I couldn't book a sleeper ticket at all, so it was impossible for me to get a proper rest.

Just in case, Jiang Qiao rests during the day and is more alert at night, just in case something happens.

There were no unexpected incidents along the way. Perhaps those who followed her onto the bus couldn't find her anymore, so she should be considered safe for the time being.

After getting off the train, Jiang Qiao rushed back without even having a hot meal. It was almost the end of the year, and the people in the city seemed to be busy. Early in the morning, you could see elderly men and women hurriedly carrying baskets to line up at grocery stores to buy things.

People are rushing to work by bike, and even buses are packed with people.

Jiang Qiao exited the train station, hesitated for a moment because the buses were too crowded. Seeing a post office across the street, she headed straight there, wanting to make a phone call to her father.

She had written to him before, but since she hadn't confirmed her return date, she decided to talk to her father directly. It would be more convenient and would put her parents at ease.

Gu Zhengfeng was genuinely surprised to receive his daughter's call; he hadn't expected her to have been away for so long.

"Girl, if you hadn't called soon, I would have put up a missing person notice. It's good that you're back. Come home soon and pick up your Grandpa Qiao."

Dad doesn't have any vacation time right now, so he probably won't be able to come back for the Chinese New Year.

Okay, you stay home and have a good New Year with your grandparents. If anything comes up, we can keep in touch anytime…

Neither of them were the type to dawdle; after asking their respective questions, they hung up the phone.

Jiang Qiao called Deng Mei again. Since the house had this thing installed, she decided to tell the old lady to prepare food for her first.

"Ah? You're Jiang Qiao! My goodness, you're finally back! Come home quickly, we've been waiting for you. Your grandpa and grandma, those two old men can't stay still, they've gone out for a stroll again. Come on over, I'll go prepare the meal."

Jiang Qiao took out a few more packages from the basket. She originally intended to mail them directly from the county town, but there were too many items, so she felt she couldn't mail them all to one place and decided to mail them separately.

The phone bill and postage cost her a lot of money, and she scratched her head with a pained expression before heading out with her basket on her back.

Looking around, she tried to find a rickshaw, but unfortunately, there wasn't one. Well, that's how it is these days; exploitation isn't allowed.

Wandering around, she decided to change her travel location and take a direct bus instead of transferring back and forth.

She could conveniently go and buy some things while she was there. It was nice to live in the countryside, but there was one drawback: things couldn't be too fancy.

People come to the house every day, and the aroma wafting from it can probably be smelled throughout the whole village. Even if Jiang Qiao wanted to improve his living conditions, he would cook outdoors.

If we're talking about feeling frustrated, she really does feel frustrated. She has all the good stuff, but she doesn't dare to eat it openly.

As I walked along, feeling frustrated and lost in thought, I turned into an alley and heard someone behind me shouting, "Stop thief!"

Jiang Qiao acted faster than she thought, sweeping her leg to knock down the person who rushed towards her. A man and a woman who had been chasing after her tackled the thief, while the woman held Jiang Qiao's hand and thanked her repeatedly.

At this moment, Jiang Qiao never expected that the two people behind her would suddenly attack her. Feeling as if she had been pricked by a needle, Jiang Qiao's instinctive reaction was to turn around and throw a punch. However, the woman who had just pulled Jiang Qiao to thank her suddenly hugged her.

"Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive, killing someone is against the law—"

Jiang Qiao felt a little dizzy. She wanted to take out some medicine and put it in her mouth, but the woman clung to her tightly. Just as Jiang Qiao was about to fall, she kicked the woman hard, and the woman fell to the ground with a groan.

People around who heard the noise rushed over, and the woman quickly explained to everyone.

"I'm sorry, my child stole money. It's a misunderstanding. This woman isn't feeling well. We'll take her to the hospital first."

Just then, a man in a police uniform stepped out from the crowd. "Fellow officers, please disperse. I'll go with them. Don't worry."

With the police officers accompanying them, no one had anything to worry about. Sure enough, Jiang Qiao was carried away by several people.

What these people didn't know was that Jiang Qiao's coma wasn't long. She dealt with medicine every day. She wouldn't dare boast about her other skills, but she had taken excellent care of her own body. Those sleeping pills and the like didn't have much effect on her.

Having consumed so many delicious foods, coupled with the added benefit of the water in her spatial dimension, while it wouldn't be fair to say she was immune to all poisons, those minor medications didn't have much of an effect on her.

So, when Jiang Qiao was conscious, these people were lifting her onto a truck.

She didn't know who these people were. Human traffickers didn't seem to have this many tricks up their sleeves, did they? Even using sleeping pills? The only thing she could think of was enemy agents.

Which side are they on? The Japanese or the Lone Wolf's side?